New generation consumer and commercial devices increasingly rely on touch screen inputs and displays as the preferred method of exchanging information between a computer and a user. For example, virtual buttons, sliders, and the like may be displayed on the display of a touch screen, and a user may indicate preferences or select among options by “pressing” or otherwise manipulating these virtual inputs. It is expected that interaction between users and a wide variety of everyday devices using touch screens will become more and more prevalent until it is merely a part of everyday life. It also is becoming common for individuals to carry with them personal portable data storage devices such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, memory cards, and the like. These devices are used by people to store a wide variety of useful data and information such as, for instance, financial records, official documents, medical records, photographs and videos, and music files. It also is expected that this trend will continue until portable storage devices are just as commonly worn by individuals as wristwatches and jewelry.
As the above trends continue to grow, improved and simpler techniques for transferring data and information between computers and other devices and the portable storage devices of individuals will immerge. Presently, this type of transaction may involve placement of an individual's USB flash drive into a USB port of a computer. Recognition of the presence of the drive is displayed as an icon representing the drive in the graphical user interface (GUI) of the computer. A user may then drag files, folders, photographs, music files, and the like onto the displayed icon to copy or move them to the inserted USB flash drive. This can be done using a mouse or it may be accomplished by moving fingertips across a touch screen. For each item dragged to the icon, a progress bar appears, and when the bar has progressed from left to right, the data transfer is complete. The user may then remove the USB flash drive from the USB port and carry it away with the transferred data stored thereon.
While the above process for transferring information to a personal storage device is functional, it nevertheless is cumbersome, complicated, and requires at least a moderate degree of computer skills to accomplish. There is thus a present and growing need in view of the above trends for a simpler, more intuitive, and more interactive method of transferring information and data between a computer or other device having a display and the personal portable storage device of an individual. There is a related need for a continuous notification to individuals that files are contained on their personal portable storage devices. It is to the provision of such methods that the present disclosure is primarily directed.